DUBUQUE, Iowa — The No. 12 Carthage College men's volleyball team swept Loras 3-0 for their second College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin win of the 2020 campaign Saturday at Lillis Court. 

The Red Men (8-3, 2-0 CCIW) began with a 9-4 start in the opening set over the Duhawks (7-4, 1-1 CCIW) until Loras battled back to tie it at 11. Carthage put together a 13-3 run to go up 24-15. A Duhawks attack error gave the Red Men the set 25-18. In the second, Loras jumped out to a 7-4 advantage however, Carthage switched the score to 10-8. Later in the set, back-to-back attack errors for the Duhawks put the visitors up 20-14. Although Loras got within one, a Duhawks service error gave the Red Men a two-set lead. 

With momentum on their side in the final set, Carthage broke out to a 10-7 lead. The Red Men used an 11-4 run to extend the margin to 11 with back-to-back service aces from Matt Slivinski and a kill from Carter Schmidt. Carthage collected the final two points off a kill from Braeden Waumans and a Duhawks service error to take home the sweep 25-15. 

The Red Men return home to face North Central (Ill.) on Wednesday, February 28 starting at 7 p.m. 

Head Coach JW Kieckhefer

"Fantastic to get a conference win away from home, those are always tough to get. We have been working really hard on our blocking moves for the last couple weeks, and it is great to see that work paying off with 12 team blocks in 3 sets. Our service pressure was really good tonight for the majority of the match and that has been another point of emphasis for us. Overall, it was a great team win for this group. 
 
We are so excited to be back in the friendly confines of Tarble Arena next week! There couldn't be a better time as we get to face an incredibly talented North Central squad! We look forward to a packed stands for some great volleyball!"

Quick Facts

• It marked the sixth straight game the Red Men hit over .300 as Carthage finished with a hitting percentage of .306 on the day. 
• Braeden Waumans led way in kills registering 10. 
• Matt Slivinski and Zach Bulthuis each tallied nine kills while Slivinski added three aces. 
• Zach Bulthuis came away with a season-high eight blocks. 
• Jacob Allard recorded 29 assists in the match. 

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